This invention relates to telecommunications messaging systems, such as voice messaging arrangements, and more particularly, to systems and methods that provide voice message originators with status information regarding stored messages.
Stored program control-based message systems that generate and deliver voice messages to users are well known in the art. Examples thereof are voice-mail systems and interactive voice recognition (e.g., programmed conversation) systems. These systems are designed to deliver voice messages to a user""s voice mailbox. One such voice-mail system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,311,576, incorporated herein by reference.
Conventional electronic messaging systems may allow an originator of a message to cancel an unretrieved message. For example, a message that has been rendered inaccurate or unneeded because of changed circumstances or that has been sent to the wrong person, may be canceled (as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,481,597, incorporated herein by reference).
However, conventional electronic messaging systems do not offer the message originator the capability to modify or cancel the message once it has been retrieved by a recipient. For example, once a message has been retrieved by the recipient, the originator has no way of determining when it was retrieved unless the recipient happens to respond with a new message to the originator. In this situation, the originator is forced to leave multiple, repeat messages to the recipient, thereby causing the recipient""s mailbox to approach saturation and ultimately limiting the effectiveness of the voice-mail system. Furthermore, many times it is less important for the originator to actually receive a return message response or call back from the recipient, than to have knowledge that the recipient has retrieved the message, and an indication of when the message was retrieved. For example, a message may indicate that a 2:00 P.M. doctor""s appointment has been canceled. Thus, if the message has been read by 1:00 P.M., the message originator knows that the recipient is aware of the cancellation, whether or not the recipient has responded to the originator""s message.
An advance is made over the art by the present invention directed to a method and apparatus that enables a message originator to receive status information regarding a message stored in a recipient""s voice messaging system (VMS). In a specific illustrative embodiment, the VMS stores the originator""s message in a storage medium and generates an identifier for the stored message. The VMS generates and stores status information associated with the message. The message originator can use the message identifier to gain access to the storage medium to access the status information for the message.
According to another illustrative embodiment, the message originator can provide an identifier for the message when the message is created. In still another illustrative embodiment, the originator may selectively determine the length of time the status information will be available to him or her after the recipient has retrieved the message.
When the message originator or any caller has reached the storage medium and supplied the message identifier of the stored message, that person is provided access to stored status information associated with the message. Thereafter, the caller can access or review the status information for the associated message. For example, the caller can determine whether the message has remained unretrieved since the date of delivery, has been retrieved on a given date, or has been deleted. Thus, the message originator gains the ability to review a message""s status information stored in the particular mailbox, regardless of whether the message has been retrieved. In turn, the originator may take appropriate action, such as leaving another message requesting that the recipient or owner of the mailbox confirm receipt of the previous message.